Suspect in Escondido shooting could face death penalty

Documented gang member may face death penalty in fatal shooting of woman who was headed home from church.

A documented Escondido gang member accused of murder could face the death penalty in the fatal shooting of a woman who was headed home from church when she was struck by bullets that police say were intended for a rival gang member.

Dionicio Crespin Torrez Jr., 24, pleaded not guilty in a Vista courtroom Friday in the murder of Cathy Kennedy, 55, who was shot as she drove eastbound on East Grand Avenue about 9 p.m. March 7, not long after leaving a weekly bible study at the Church of St. Timothy. Kennedy died at a hospital a short time later.

After Torrez’s brief arraignment, the prosecutor called the case “heartbreaking and tragic,” and “a wake-up call for the community.”

“Escondido has seen a rise in gang violence despite efforts by the Escondido Police Department, and it has culminated in the killing of an innocent person, simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Deputy District Attorney Laurie Hauf said.

In addition to murder, the District Attorney's office is alleging that the shooting was done to advance gang interests — a special circumstance that makes Torrez’s potential punishment either life in prison without parole or death. The decision whether to pursue the death penalty will be made at a later time.

Torrez also faces other charges, including two counts of attempted murder for shooting at the two rival gang members, a shooting police said was done in retaliation for gang-related tagging at the Pepperwood Meadows apartment complex, along East Grand Avenue between Rose Street and Midway Drive.

No new details of the case were provided in open court. After a sidebar meeting with attorneys, Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland cited “the allegations and my concern for public safety” in her decision to deny bail for Torrez.

Hauf said the on-the-record sidebar — out of earshot of the media and the courtroom audience — was done “for the purposes of maintaining the defendants rights, constitutional rights.”

Torrez was arrested Wednesday, along with a 16-year-old juvenile, also said to be a gang member. The teen will be arraigned in Juvenile Court on Monday morning. Whether the teen will be tried as an adult will be up to a Juvenile Court judge.

In announcing the arrests on Thursday, Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter said both Torrez and the teen are Escondido residents and U.S. citizens. He also said more arrests would follow.

As of Friday afternoon, Hauf said, only the Torrez and the 16-year-old have been arrested.

The only other criminal case on file for Torrez was a 2011 misdemeanor vandalism case. He pleaded guilty but court records indicate he failed to pay all his fines on time, and also repeatedly failed to sign up for court-ordered anger management classes.